Brodsky Synagogue (Odesa)

For similarly named synagogues, see Brodsky Synagogue.
Brodsky Synagogue
Religion
AffiliationReform Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organisational status
Year consecrated10 April 1868
StatusUnder restoration
Location
LocationZhukovskoho Street 18, Odesa 65000
CountryUkraine
Brodsky Synagogue (Odesa) is located in Ukraine
Brodsky Synagogue (Odesa)
Location of the synagogue in Ukraine
Geographic coordinates46°28′47″N 30°44′31″E / 46.4797°N 30.742°E / 46.4797; 30.742
Architecture
Architect(s)Joseph N. Kollovich
(Osip Kolovich)
TypeSynagogue architecture
Style
Date established1840s (as a congregation)
Groundbreaking1863 (1863)
Completed1868
Specifications
Dome(s)Four
MaterialsLimestone
[1]

The Brodsky Synagogue is a Reform[2][a] Jewish synagogue, located at Zhukovskoho Street 18, in Odesa, Ukraine.

Completed in 1868 by Jews from Brody, it was the first Reform synagogue and the first with an organ in the then Russian Empire, and the largest synagogue in what is now south Ukraine. The synagogue operated until 1920,[b] when it was closed by Soviet authorities and subsequently converted into Soviet government administration use as the Odessa State Archives. In 2016, the synagogue was handed back to the Jewish community to restore the building as an Orthodox synagogue and Jewish history museum.

During the peak of its activity, the synagogue attracted people came from all over the world to hear cantors sing.[2][4][5][6]

History

[edit]

Early 1800s

[edit]

In the early 1800s, Jewish immigrants began to stream into Odesa from Europe, many of them coming from the town of Brody in western Ukraine.[7][8]

In the 1840s, the Brody Jews leased their first synagogue, at the corner of Pushkin and Postal (now Zhukovsky) streets in a relatively small house from the wealthy Greek businessman Ksenysu.[9] The Cantor was Rabbi Nissan Blumenthal, who had also come from the town of Brody.[10][11][12]

The reformation of synagogues was also one of the priorities of Maskilim in the city, the Brodsky Synagogue, soon become a model for Jewish prayer in the region. The older Glavaina synagogue, formerly known as Beit Knesset Ha Gadol established in 1795 and located in main arteries of the city, was transformed on the lines of Brody Synagogue. [13]

One of the documents from the Office of Novorossiysk and Bessarabian Governor-General, dated 1852, states: "All the educated people of the Jewish community in Odesa are going there. Their school leases a house, but it is deliberately arranged. The hall is quite extensive, there is also a gallery for the women…”[4]

The new synagogue

[edit]

In 1860, they received permission to begin building a new synagogue. It was designed by the famous architect Joseph N. Kollovich in the Gothic and Renaissance revival styles, built with local limestone, and completed in 1868.[1] It was the largest synagogue in the south of the then Russian empire.[14]

Many famous composers and singers performed in the synagogue. Among them was David Novakovsky, a composer,[15] and Cantor Pinhas Minkowsky.[8]

The synagogue is mentioned in writings of Isaac Babel, Sholem Aleichem, and Ivan Bunin (the first Russian writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature). Ze'ev Jabotinsky, and Meir Dizengoff, former mayor of Tel Aviv, are among the many Jews associated with this synagogue.[16][17][18]

In 1897, Jews made up 34.6% of the city's population, making Odesa was the second-largest Jewish city, after Warsaw.[7]

The Soviet era and World War II

[edit]

In 1920, all the synagogues in Odesa were taken away from the Jewish community. In 1925, the Brody Synagogue was turned into the Rosa Luxemburg Workers Club, which was a meeting place to push socialist propaganda.[7] The Ten Commandments over the synagogue's ark were covered with a photo of Lenin.[19][20]

In 1939, the Jewish population of Odesa had numbered 80,000 to 90,000, but by 1945 only 5,000 remained.[7]

During World War II, Adolf Hitler requested Romanian leader Ion Antonescu to occupy the Ukrainian territory between Dniester and Bug Rivers. In those days, the Odesa Oblast State Archive was located in the basement of the Uspensky cathedral. The Romanians moved the archive into the Brodsky Synagogue.[3][21]

Recent history

[edit]
The synagogue in 2016

In August 1985, the Odesa Oblast Council established the Brodsky Synagogue as a monument of local importance. In June 2006, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine included the building in the State Register of Monuments of Ukraine.[22][23]

In August 2015, the building was on the verge of collapse and had not been renovated for many years. The walls were held by the bookshelves inside.[16][24][25]

As of February 2016, the Brodsky Synagogue was returned to the Jewish Community of Odesa. The decision was reached by a decisive majority of the regional council who voted to transfer the building taken from its community nearly 100 years ago.[26] The building, once restored, will house an Orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch congregation[27] and the Odesa Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center.[28] When restored, it is expected that the Chief Rabbi of Odesa and Southern Ukraine, Avraham Wolff, will lead the congregation.[29]

See also

[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brody Synagogue in Odesa.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Upon restoration, the synagogue will become a place of worship for an Orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch congregation.[2]
  2. ^ Also claimed to be 1925,[3] and 1927.[2]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Levin, Vladimir (2020). "Reform or Consensus? Choral Synagogues in the Russian Empire". Arts. 9 (72). Jerusalem, Israel: The Center for Jewish Art, Hebrew University of Jerusalem: 6–10. doi:10.3390/arts9020072. Retrieved 5 April 2024 – via ResearchGate.
  2. ^ a b c d "Tales from the Pale Odessa Synagogue Has Storied Past, but Its Building's Foundation is Shaky". Jewish Telegraph Agency. 13 August 2004. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  3. ^ a b Masis, Julie (29 November 2015). "Jewish World: Odessa Remnanats". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Та Одесса. Бродская синагога в очереди на уничтожение (фото)". Новости Одессы – Таймер (in Russian). 11 January 2010. В одном из документов канцелярии Новороссийского и Бессарабского генерал-губернатора, датируемым 1852 годом, сказано: «Тут собираются все люди образованные из общества евреев в Одессе. Их школа в нанимаемом доме, но нарочито к тому устроенная. Зала довольно обширная, имеет так же галерею для женщин…[dead link]
  5. ^ Калинин, Игорь (20 June 2016). "Одесские достопримечательности — Бродская синагога". www.odessaguide.net (in Russian). Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  6. ^ "Бродская синагога, XIX век". Вся Одесса. Исторические фотографии.[dead link]
  7. ^ a b c d Zipperstein, Steven J. (13 September 2010). "Odessa". The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  8. ^ a b Walden, Joshua S. (19 November 2015). The Cambridge Companion to Jewish Music. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107023451.
  9. ^ "Jewish Ukraine: 6 facts about the Jews of Odessa". Jewish News. Ukraine. Retrieved 10 May 2016.[dead link]
  10. ^ Rosenthal, Herman; Penn, S. (2021). "ODESSA". Jewish Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  11. ^ Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara; Karp, Jonathan (11 February 2013). The Art of Being Jewish in Modern Times. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 9780812208863.
  12. ^ "CHOIRS". Encyclopaedia Judaica. The Gale Group. 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2024 – via Jewish Virtual Library.
  13. ^ Zipperstein, Steven (1985). The Jews of Odessa: A Cultural History, 1794-1881. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. p. 56-62. ISBN 9780804766845.
  14. ^ Khanin, Vladimir (1 January 1998). "A Rabbinical Revolution? Religion, Power and Politics in the Contemporary Ukrainian Jewish Movement". Jewish Political Studies Review. 10 (1/2): 73–91. JSTOR 25834416.
  15. ^ "Nowakowsky, David, 1848-1921". LC Linked Data Service. Library of Congress. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  16. ^ a b Zonis, Victor (n.d.). "БРОДСКАЯ СИНАГОГ – АГОНИЯ РАВНОДУШИЯ" (PDF). State Television (Interview). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2024 – via The World Union for Progressive Judaism.
  17. ^ Astaire, Libi (17 August 2015). "Beyond The Pale: Jewish Ukraine (Part II)". The Jewish Press. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  18. ^ Administrator, Super. "The Brodsky Synagogue". www.edrs.org.uk. Retrieved 15 May 2016.[dead link]
  19. ^ Yodfat, Aryeh Y. (1 January 1973). "The closure of synagogues in the soviet union". Soviet Jewish Affairs. 3 (1): 48–56. doi:10.1080/13501677308577146. ISSN 0038-545X.
  20. ^ "Travels in Soviet Russia described". The Montreal Gazette. 10 October 1928. Retrieved 10 May 2016 – via Google News Archive Search.
  21. ^ "Одесский облсовет готовится строить пристройку для архива, архивисты недовольны". Викна-Одесса: Художественная интернет-галерея (in Ukrainian). Одесса: Новости. 30 March 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  22. ^ Belousova, Lilia (n.d.). "Jewish Records in the State Archives of Odessa Region: Origin, Preservation and Access". RTR Foundation. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  23. ^ "General Information on Ukrainian Jewish Organizations". Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  24. ^ "Religion The Brodsky Synagogue". Ukrainian Jewish Encounter.[permanent dead link]
  25. ^ "Руководство Одесского облархива обещает найти спонсора для ремонта нового помещения". Викна-Одесса: Художественная интернет-галерея (in Ukrainian). Одесса: Новости. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  26. ^ "Brodsky Synagogue Is Returned to Odessa's Jewish Community". Jewish Political News and Updates. 2015. Archived from the original on 25 February 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  27. ^ Sukhopleshchenko, Kateryna (16 February 2016). "The building of the former synagogue will be returned to the Jewish community". The Odesa Times. Retrieved 10 May 2016.[permanent dead link]
  28. ^ "Одесская еврейская община готова принять здание Бродской синагоги". Викна-Одесса: Художественная интернет-галерея (in Ukrainian). Одесса: Новости. 17 February 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  29. ^ Bejger, Peter, ed. (28 May 2020). "The spiritual leaders of Ukraine's Jewish community". Ukrainian Jewish Encounter. Translated by Marta D. Olynyk. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
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